Fresh controversy surrounds the former site of Hurst Show where developers want to build homes.
A new plan to build 23 homes there, just one fewer than first suggested, has caused a stir because it came so close to Christmas.
Villagers are worried the timing might mean potential objectors to the revised planning application may be away or too busy with Christmas preparations and festivities to send in comments on the new plans.
Hurst Parish Council chairman Wayne Smith said he had raised their concerns as a matter of democracy with Wokingham Borough Council.
He said: “They told me: ‘We have to be fair, reasonable and consistent’.”
Cllr Smith added: “A lot of residents have contacted me about this being done the week before Christmas. Everybody should be given a fair crack of the whip.
“This should have waited until the first week of January. We’re in the build-up to Christmas with preparations for it. A lot of people will be away. It doesn’t seem right.”
He had tried at length to discover from Wokingham Borough Council what was happening to the original planning permission request made almost a year ago. A decision on granting permission should have come in May 2023 he said.
No decision has been made on that plan for the site in Willowmead field in School Road.
The first plan drew 186 objections and 25 letters of support.
The parish council’s many objections included ‘significant’ road safety concerns and that the primary school would not have space for all the homes’ children.
The revised plan deletes the entrance road from Orchard Road, keeping the one from School Road. There is also a School Road access to a 15-space car park for school parents. The developers’ transport document says this will have ‘a direct safety benefit’.
But a resident was concerned all [homes] traffic would enter and exit “via the new five-way junction they want to create at the end of Tape Lane.“
They added: “This will encourage even more to use Tape Lane as a shortcut to Twyford, despite the access-only signs.”
Residents who objected to the first plan were emailed on December 15 to say there was now a revised plan.
They were told “The revised details show:” but no details were given.
Also, there were none on the council’s online planning portal. These appeared later, but Councillor Smith said on Monday that some documents were still missing.
A borough council spokesperson said the planning team apologised for any missing information on the notifications, which should have clarified the changes: the reduction in the number of homes and accesses and the proposed homes being further from the public right of way.
There was only a brief delay between the emails going out and the relevant files being uploaded, so people could have looked at them by checking back shortly afterwards. Residents feeling details were missing should tell the council.
“There’s no statutory duty to consult on amended plans – though we chose to do so in this case and also allowed 28 days for comments, to account for the busy Christmas period,” said the spokesperson. Comments can be made until January 12.
“We were in negotiations with the applicant and it was decided that amendments to the application may be the most constructive way forward. We don’t have any control over when these come in but, given that they came in so close to Christmas, we felt an extended period to comment . . . .was appropriate,” he added.
“Rather than simply rejecting an application outright, if we can foresee aspects that might be problematic then we follow the Government’s National Planning Policy Framework guidance by working with the applicant to identify changes that might work better for all parties.”
It was not unusual for large-scale applications to take months, if not years to determine.
Comments made on the first plan will be taken into account when a decision is made on the revised one. Wokingham Today has asked Douglas Bond of Three Mile Cross, agent for the applicants, for a comment.
Hurst Show has continued to be held on the school field and Martineau Green since it left the application site.
